Gaming appliance



' v 1,454,173 s.. KEINER I GAMING APPLIANCE Filed Sept. 14, 1921 my.ants Inventor. \si'epkgn Kez'neza' Patented May 8, 1923. i I i I IUNITED "ST A'FEES P ATENT QEIF m5, v STEPHEN Kamil or Los ANG iIEscA r IL;

GAMING APPLIANCE. I I. I .Ap l q t fi e p ember i s-192 1.- sfirial NoaioQ fil'i l Tr ll; I Th a a lthttth B kii viiitli tiiglfgi iinlvlimiqne,havinventizi f irmwmg'l' 118 ing declared my intention of becoming la IFigure 1.. i auplan; v ve e citizen of the United States, residingat osv Ppl ance wi llsJ QI aSEd;7 6 33 11 [Th Angeles, inthe countypf LosAngeles and double headed arrow ;indicates'positiveflroe 55',

State otCalifornia, havednvented anew tation in either direction. I Hand useful Gaming Appliance, of which th Fig 2 is a sideelevation of theappli following is; a specification. a l shown inFi g. 1. a y

This invention relatesjto educational and Fig. 3 is aesection on line-:I; Eig 1. on

ioamusementgames designed principally to a Fig. 4 is an enlarged p1an;;in sectiongon 60;-

teach children to-add, subtract, multiply and line m Figs. 2 and 3,

divide. To that end I provide an appliance Fig, 5 is a plan of-thetopi'withvtheeomcomprising runways and-pocket wheels and partmentscolored. '1 I i i i a number of balls either plain, colored or E ig-6isa diagrammatic yiewpf a set f numbered tobe released on a runway andballs adapted. to be used inthe games .55 run by gravity toalpooketedwheel-arranged 1 The. frame comprises, a -..base 1,, sil-ls,2, to spin as a hand top in which there I are lower-runway 3, uprightstandvcross p ieees pockets and I compartments to receivev the 5 thereonthatls upport thejupper runwayfi balls. On the bottom of thesecompartments which consists of parallel; plates 7,,8, spac ed areletters or numerals or both that aid: the apart ftoz gforin between themanfl .elo n ted; ,7 j,-

players indetermining what amount they opening 9 of less-wilth han -thdiameter", have received each time the balls are reofthe; balls, and theballs 10; are adaptedto leased. While this-gaming appliance is. estraveltherealong whenythey are released pecially adapted to use of, childrenit is also from the starting platform a 1 1- which 1 equally adaptableto the interest and amuseslightly higher than'the" drop; opening 12.atq5 ment of adults. a the lower end of the runway 6. ,Adjacent -to Anobject of the invention is to provide the discharge openinglZ-is a hallstop 13 a pleasing. and cheapamusement device that againstwhieh theballs strike when they will be exceptionally interesting, in that a[reach theend of the runway 6; thus causing there is always anuncertainty as to the. the ballvtofallf-through the opening tlQ intocredits a player is to. receive each time a the pockets 14in theovershot. wheel 15.

ball is released. a i The upper runway 6;.is preferably aslant Anotherobject is to provide air-appliance toward; the pocketed overshot wheel-15.

that is sim'pleand cheap-inconstruction and Said-wheel. preferablyconsistsot;circular a 35 durable in operation. vsides 16 spaced apart byradial vanes 17 that} r The invention is broadly new basic and arearranged equidistant apart and that are pioneer in .thatitcomprisesupper and lower tangential'to the-hub18of thewheel. ,llhe runways, anintermediate overshot pocketed overshotawheel is shown as; having; eightwheel mountedon a horizontal axis totranspocketsofequal dimensions thatare adapted a 40 for balls from theupper to the lower runto receiye theballs 10 as theyiallth rough way, and a pocketedwheel arranged to spintheopeningylQ whichv isv so arranged that on a vertical axis and toreceive balls from the balls 10..wi ll flfall into the. tops; ,of {thethe lower runway. i pockets; on that side ofthe wheel nextto theAnobject is to provide a novel-game that runway so that lthe .weightofthe balls. will 45. canbe played with interest by one or more turn; h-Wh Units flib l di 1 1 1 $61 8 players 'to the interest of all present.the ballsv to be discharged, irom lpoolgets.l7 Qther objects, advantagesand featuresof onto, andibe made to roll toward thesvfr ont inventionmay appear from the accompanyof the'de vice along the-lower runwayfi anding drawing, the subjoined ldetail. descripto fall into the 'poclretsotthe .top,' ;spi 1r ;top 50 tionand the; appended.- claims. or wheel20wh-ich is mounted ona spindle-.1

21 that has its upper end loosely mounted in a bearing 22 securedbetween the plates 7 and 8 and the lower end of spindle 21 is looselymounted in a recess 23 in the platform 1 so that it supports the top 20above the base 1 and is mounted so that the top can be actuated by handto spin.

In operation the spindle 21 is rotated by the hands to spin the top 20after which any or all the balls are released on platform 11 so thatthey pass down the runway 6 and discharge through the opening 12 intothe pockets 14 where their weight causes the wheel 15 to rotate bygravity, discharging the balls toward the front of the appliance so thatthe ball'sroll toward the spin top 19 and discharge 'promiscuously intothe com partments 19; it being uncertain as to which compartments theballs enter, and it is this uncertainty that makes the game so veryinteresting. i

A number of games can be played but for the sake of brevity only one inwhich adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing are featured will bedescribed.

In the bottom of the compartments l9 and near the outer wall I arrangethe Roman numerals from one to eight, reading in a circle toward theright; and adjoining these numerals and nearer to the center of the topare the figures one to eight arranged in reverse order to the Romannumerals or to readto' the left with the Figure 1 in the compartment ofthe Roman numerals 8; also in compartment with Roman numeral 8 andFigure 1, I place theletter A and in the other compartments reading tothe right I place the letters B to H inclusive that are used todesignate the compartment the players select each time the balls arereleased on the runway or a play is made;that is on each play theplayers select one or another of the compartments and tabulates' theresult which will be hereinafter explained.

The balls for this mathematical game can either be plain or colored andnumbered as shown in Fig. 6; in which 1 is white, 2 is orange and 3 isbrown or purple, 4 is black, 5 yellow, 6 green, 7 blue and 8 red or pinkand 9 and O are white.

Any number of players can engage in this mathematical game and they canplay for any designated total preferably a multiple of 10 say fivehundred, with the player reaching or passing that total first aswinner., Each player is provided with a pencil and tablet to keep arecord of their score;

Various rules are devised to govern the various games but for the sakeof brevity only those necessary to a clear understanding of themathematical game are given.

The first rul of the game is: that each player is entitledto but onecompartment each time the balls are released on the runway or a play ismade, but that they can compartments.

select each play any compartment that they desire; and in making theselection they write the letter on their tablet that indicates theirchoice before the play is made after which they enter their credit whenthe play is made. In other words with a large number playing say thirty,ten or more or even half of the players may select the same compartmentfor that play; and in the next and succeeding plays diversify eachmaking various selections; that is assuming that the ten or more playershave selected compartment A and in that play the balls have e11- teredthe other compartments making A a losing place the inclination of theplayers is to choose a winner; consequently their next selection mightbe any one of the other On each play or each time all of the ten ballsare released on the runway the following results are to'be tabulated bythe 'players.

Each player is entitled toa. credit comprising the total formed byadding the amount of the figures on the balls entering the compartmenthe or she hasv selected to, the'number in the compartment minus theRoman numeral therein; that is, assuming that a playhas been made and aplayer has selected compartment 13 and that all the balls except theciphered ball has entered it. The amount from 1 to 9 inclusive on theballs is 45'with 8 in thecompartment added and the Roman numeral thereinsubtracted entitles the player to a total of 52. v

At all times however the ciphered ball entering a compartment compelsthe players to lose one-fourth of their totals so that quently in theplay above referred to if the red ball had entered the compartmentalonethe player would be entitled to a credit of 72 as the Roman numeraladded to 8 and multiplied by the number on the red ball gives thatamount.

Another rule of the game is that ifthe ciphered ball entering acompartment alone it cancels the total amounts that are credited to theplayers up to that play that have selected that comparment on that play;so that they have to start all over again. In other words if on asubsequent play the player referred to with a credit of 72 should on thenext play be unfortunate enough to select a compartment in which theciphered ball enters alone he or she would lose the credit of 72 or anyother amount the prior plays of the game had given them.

From the foregoing it can readily be understoodthat the-game employs themathematical features of addition, subtraction, multiplication anddivision in a very eX- hilarating andpleasing manner; that will beexceptionally'beneficial to all the players as it not only increases andquickens mental activity but'does so in an unlabori ous way.

As previously indicated this game is especially designed for schoolchildren to give them a necessary mental exercise without tiring; and itis a game in which any number can play.

Heretofore games have been designed for even numbers of players usuallya multiple of two which almost invariably leaves odd numbers of playersthat would like to but who cannot engage in the game for want of places.In my game either odd or even numbers of players can be engaged and inthis respect the invention is broadly new,

basic and pioneer.

In order to adapt the game for use of small children or kindergartenpurposes the balls and compartments in the top are colored as shown inthe drawing and rules of play devised that make the game exceedinglyinteresting and instructive to the children.

I claim.

1. A gaming appliance comprising in combination an upper ball runwayadapted to deliver balls onto a wheel; a wheel mounted below the upperball runway and adapted and arranged to receive balls delivered fromsaid runway and also adapted to be actuated by the balls discharged fromsaid runway; a lower ball runway adapted and arranged to receive theballs from said wheel and to deliver the same to a spinning top; and aspinning top having compartments adapted and arranged to receive theballs discharged from said lower runway.

2. A gaming appliance comprising an elevated ball starting platform, anupper ball runway adapted to receive balls from said platform andinclined downward from said platform and having a discharge opening atits lower end; a ball stop at the lower end of said runway to causeballs to enter said discharge opening; a wheel pivotally mounted belowthe discharge opening in said ball runway to receive balls from saidrunway, said wheel being adapted and arranged to be actuated by theballs falling through said discharge opening; a lower ball runwayadapted and arranged to receive balls discharged from said wheel and todischarge said balls onto a spinning top; a spinn ng top adapted andarranged to re ceive balls from the end of said ball runway, saidspinning top being adapted to be actuated by hand; said spinning tophaving compartments; and letters in said compartments for distinguishingthe compartments from each other'and said compartments also havingnumerals that impart. a numericalvalue to the balls entering thecompartment of said spinning top.

3. A gaming appliance comprising a frame having a forward end, a ballstarting platform, a ball runway supported by said frame and having oneend adjacent said platform, said ball runway having an en.- largedopening at its discharge end, a wheel positioned below the enlargedopening in said runway said wheel adapted to receive balls fallingfromsaid runway and to be rotated by the balls; vanes in said wheel forcompartments in said top, saidcompartments adapted to receive the ballsdischarged from said wheel; and said compartments having letters todistinguish them from one another and also figures and Roman numeralsthat impart a numerical value to balls entering any of saidcompartments.

4. A gaming appliance comprising a frame having a forward and rear end,a lower runway in said frame, ball starting platform at the forward endof said frame, a number of balls, an upper runway extending from saidstarting platform to the rear end of said frame said upper runway hav-'ing a discharge opening at its rear end, a stop adjacent the dischargeopening of said upper runway, a wheel below the discharged opening insaid upper runway that is adapted to be rotated by saidballs'; vanes insaid wheel that are spaced apart to form pockets,

said vanes adapted to discharge the balls falling into the pockets ofsaid wheel onto the lower runway and direct them toward the forward endof said frame, and a top at the forward end of said frame; compart- 1ments in said top that are adapted to receive said balls dischargingfrom said lower runway, said compartments having numerals therein thatimpart a numerical value to balls entering therein.

5. A gaming appliance comprising a frame having a forward and rear end,a. lower runway in said frame, an upper platform, an inclined ballrunway extending from said upper platform to the rear end of said frame,said runway having an enlarged wheel onto the lower runway and towardthe forward end of said frame, a. top at the forward end of said frame,said top adapted to spin and which also has compartments that aredesignated by letters and provided and compartments arranged so that agame can be played that employs the mathemati- 10 cal features ofaddition, substraction, multipiication and division.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 3rd day of September, 1921.

STEPHEN KEINER.

Witness: I

JAMEs R. TOWNSEND.

